KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – A total of 439 Justices of the Peace (JPs) were commissioned during 2016/17 as part of the government’s undertaking to reform and strengthen the justice system.

This was announced by Justice Minister, Delroy Chuck, during his 2017/18 Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives yesterday.Chuck said the JPs’ commissioning was one aspect of the administration’s undertaking to deepen public involvement in the justice reform process by engaging more persons, particularly at the community level.“We have started a national movement on the ground with key stakeholders, (aimed at) getting them on board and involved in the programme. More than 2,700 persons, including JPs, leaders in our communities and other outstanding citizens, such as teachers and pastors, have been sensitised on justice services and engaged in a constructive way to contribute to the reform programme,” he said. The minister told the House that 486 new JP applications have, to date, been submitted for the fiscal year.He said the focus on the recruitment and training of JPs was intended to strengthen the capacity of the justice system to function in a more facilitative manner in quasi-judicial settings. “The JP/citizen ratio should be in the region of 1 to 100. If that applies, we should have 20,000; at the moment, we have under 8,000. We need to put these JPs in the underserved rural communities, inner cities and many of the rural parishes,” Chuck contended.Since January, some 2,400 JPs have been exposed to information covering a range of areas in which they provide advice and act in the normal course of their duties. These include child diversion, and justice and alternative dispute resolution.During the 2016/17 fiscal year, a total of 509 JPs benefited from training while an additional 49 were trained in mediation and 140 in restorative justice practices.